Born: October 30, 1735 Died :July 4, 1826
Federalist
President terms of office: March 4,1797- March 4, 1801
Vice President: Thomas Jefferson
John Adams deserves a B overall as President of the United States. During his term, he avoided a war with France (called the Quasi-War) which could have caused a copious amount of American deaths since the U.S. wasn't well prepared. He also signed the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 which helped settle Republican Opposition. In addition, Adams held the first ever State of the Union Address in 1797 which Presidents still continue today. One other accomplishment was that he appointed John Marshall as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. However, Adams may have avoided the war, but in doing this he split up his federalist party and they weren't nearly as unified. Also, one of his big mistakes was keeping the old cabinet (led by Alexander Hamilton) instead of putting in his own people.
One of Adams' main goals as President was to improve the relationship between France and the United States. At first he was unsuccessful because France was demanding a large sum of money before they would make peace so he thought war with France might be unavoidable. But in the end, a peace treaty was signed with France and they become one of the United States trading partners; so his goal was accomplished. In addition, Adams wanted to make the federalist party stronger and more powerful than the Republican party. He definetly did not accomplish this goal seeing that the Federalists were battling with each other and dividing themselves into two separate groups when his term ended. Also, he wanted to help the U.S Navy. He accomplished this by expanding the Navy with 30 more ships in case there happened to be a war with France.
Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts even though Adams did not propose them. Adams signed them, as did Thomas Jefferson even though he didn't like them at all. These 4 acts were a joint effort to limit immigration and free speech. Adams was sometimes frusterated with Congress since they continuously sent him to France and would sometimes ignore him. However, the relationship overall wasn't bad since there was a majority of Federalists in the Senate and House of Representatives
Adams' administration passed the Alien and Sedition Acts which had the most positive outcome. Although they caused controversy, the bad outweighed the good. They limited free speech, immigration, and allowed the President to deport any foreigner that he thought was dangerous to the country. The administration's most negative action was the taxing on property. (Direct tax of 1798) This caused the Fries Rebellion where German farmers protested what they thought was a threat to republican parties and to their churches.
One decision made by President Adams which influenced future presidential administrations was the election of John Marshall as the 4th Chief Justice of the United States. This was the most lasting influence of John Adams and the Federalists. Marshall added to the constitution the Judicial Branch equaling the Legislative and Executive Branch. The Judicial Branch is still a main branch in todays government.
In conclusion, the country was better of after John Adam's Presidencial term ended. If he would have gone into war with France, the U.S. wouldn't have been prepared and would have lost. France may have continued hating America and the peace treaty could have never been signed. In addition, John Marshall may not have been elected as Chief Justice which means the Judicial Branch might never have been added into our government. The U.S. navy might not be where it is today since Adams expanded it. Finally, we may have never had a State of the Union Address which The United States Presidents still use today. John Adams wasn't perfect, but he was still a good President. For that reason, he deserves a B for his Presidential term.
John Adams
Born: October 30, 1735 Died :July 4, 1826Federalist
President terms of office: March 4,1797- March 4, 1801
Vice President: Thomas Jefferson
John Adams deserves a B overall as President of the United States. During his term, he avoided a war with France (called the Quasi-War) which could have caused a copious amount of American deaths since the U.S. wasn't well prepared. He also signed the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 which helped settle Republican Opposition. In addition, Adams held the first ever State of the Union Address in 1797 which Presidents still continue today. One other accomplishment was that he appointed John Marshall as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. However, Adams may have avoided the war, but in doing this he split up his federalist party and they weren't nearly as unified. Also, one of his big mistakes was keeping the old cabinet (led by Alexander Hamilton) instead of putting in his own people.
One of Adams' main goals as President was to improve the relationship between France and the United States. At first he was unsuccessful because France was demanding a large sum of money before they would make peace so he thought war with France might be unavoidable. But in the end, a peace treaty was signed with France and they become one of the United States trading partners; so his goal was accomplished. In addition, Adams wanted to make the federalist party stronger and more powerful than the Republican party. He definetly did not accomplish this goal seeing that the Federalists were battling with each other and dividing themselves into two separate groups when his term ended. Also, he wanted to help the U.S Navy. He accomplished this by expanding the Navy with 30 more ships in case there happened to be a war with France.
Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts even though Adams did not propose them. Adams signed them, as did Thomas Jefferson even though he didn't like them at all. These 4 acts were a joint effort to limit immigration and free speech. Adams was sometimes frusterated with Congress since they continuously sent him to France and would sometimes ignore him. However, the relationship overall wasn't bad since there was a majority of Federalists in the Senate and House of Representatives
Adams' administration passed the Alien and Sedition Acts which had the most positive outcome. Although they caused controversy, the bad outweighed the good. They limited free speech, immigration, and allowed the President to deport any foreigner that he thought was dangerous to the country. The administration's most negative action was the taxing on property. (Direct tax of 1798) This caused the Fries Rebellion where German farmers protested what they thought was a threat to republican parties and to their churches.
One decision made by President Adams which influenced future presidential administrations was the election of John Marshall as the 4th Chief Justice of the United States. This was the most lasting influence of John Adams and the Federalists. Marshall added to the constitution the Judicial Branch equaling the Legislative and Executive Branch. The Judicial Branch is still a main branch in todays government.
In conclusion, the country was better of after John Adam's Presidencial term ended. If he would have gone into war with France, the U.S. wouldn't have been prepared and would have lost. France may have continued hating America and the peace treaty could have never been signed. In addition, John Marshall may not have been elected as Chief Justice which means the Judicial Branch might never have been added into our government. The U.S. navy might not be where it is today since Adams expanded it. Finally, we may have never had a State of the Union Address which The United States Presidents still use today. John Adams wasn't perfect, but he was still a good President. For that reason, he deserves a B for his Presidential term.
Bibliography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams#Presidency:_1797.E2.80.931801
armstrong-history.wikispaces.com/file/.../President+John+Adams.pdf
http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/johnadams.html
http://www.tamut.edu/academics/mperri/AmSoInHis/John-Adams.jpg